hummingbirds

I have a hummingbird feeder in the backyard, and it actually works.

I make the nectar by boiling together 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. Make sure to stir the sugar to dissolve it, and boil it for 2 minutes, as this will delay the nectar getting moldy. The birds don't like moldy food, so change it often (a couple of times a week), and make sure to clean out the feeder thoroughly.

When I first got the feeder, I was making the nectar every week and waiting for the birds to arrive, but I wasn't attracting ANY hummingbirds. I didn't know what I was doing wrong--- I knew they lived in my neighborhood. I ended up figuring it out the hard way...when the weather turned chilly, I made myself some hot chocolate. I added the sugar to the chocolate and soy milk, took a huge sip...and ACK! Gross! I immediately spit it out--turns out I had put salt in the sugar jar:)

I fixed that problem, and now I have lots of happy sugary hummingbirds in my yard...